Poppy Patterns for Remembrance Day

Nov 11 is Remembrance Day in the UK and other Commonwealth states and Veteran’s Day in the US, which commemorates the servicemen and women who died serving their countries. Here’s how you can honour them with your knitting!

In Europe, the red corn poppy is a potent symbol of remembrance. These delicate flowers produce seeds that can lie dormant for years, flowering when the soil is turned up and the seed reaches the surface. In Flanders fields, soldiers noticed that soil disturbed by shells, digging and munitions trucks sprouted blood-red flowers.

If you live in the UK, you know that poppies are available as paper and plastic pins for a small donation to the Royal British Legion. But why not go a step further and knit your own? If you choose to download a free pattern, you can always send a donation to the Royal British Legion as a nice gesture.

A knitting group from South Shields worked all year on a big display of over 5,000 knitted poppies to drape across the local war memorial, showing that knitting and crafting can be a fantastic way to pay tribute!